General Motors In Another Fight For Truck Bragging Rights

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When it comes to trucks, bragging rights hold a lot of weight for the marketing department. This time the tussle among the Big Three is about maximum payload, with General Motors having a “when in Rome” attitude.

Last week, our sister site Motrolix wrote about a similar issue Ford and Ram were having, with Ford taking liberties to show that its Super Duty pickup carried more payload than an equivalent Ram. Now, after Ford’s lead, General Motors has adopted the practice “because we saw what the competition was using,” according to a GM spokesman. “It was done to keep comparisons apples-to-apples when we launched the new trucks.”

And the practice in question? Deleting the weight of items such as spare tires and rear bumpers, jack, and several other peripheral items.

“It’s gamesmanship, with manufacturers trying to be the king of the hill,” metro Houston-based Ford dealer Mitchell Dale told Automotive News. “Quite frankly, it could drive a concern about confidence when they play games like this.”

Heavy-duty pickups have accounted for about a quarter of the 1.1 million full-sized trucks sold in the United States through July of 2014, according to AN. With the cost of these trucks averaging over $50,000, it’s no wonder that General Motors is hopping into the game and attempting to show their trump cards with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.

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6 Comments

You left off the most important part. GM just admitted they will start deleting the bumper and tires on the 2015 Silverado 1500 half tons, too! Ford stated they don’t delete items on the F-150. Ram stated previously they don’t delete on the half ton. So I don’t see how GM can say they need to do it to keep this apples to apples. This makes GM look weak and GM needs to rethink this!

Hell this is not any big deal as anyone who has a need for these kinds of trucks knows the real deal in this passion match.

This amount mostly to marketing people playing games like they have for years.

Prior to 1971 all cars were rated at Gross Horse Power. From 71 and on it was Net HP. They tested engine in the early years on the dyno with no Air cleaners and many other accessories that lowered output. They all changes as the emission hit to hide the hit in HP they all took. Also the Gross HP was a bit misleading itself in the HP wars. That is why the 420 HP of a TT V6 today at Cadillac or the 290 HP of my Ecotec is so impressive as it is SAE Net HP not Gross.

The fact is GM is just doing what the others are doing to keep their numbers on the same plain for comparison.

How many years have we have had to suffer trucks pulling ships, trains, airplanes and even a space shuttle as a sign of strength and virility that is totally meaningless. The same thing is going on here too.

This segment is commanded by three good trucks with so little difference in them that they have had to get to the point of splitting hairs to win an argument.

Most owner never see the upper limit of their towing power here in this line up. Just like most ZR1 owners never see 200 MPH either.

We see this weigh gutting on the other performance cars too from the Z/28 all the way to a Ferrari.

In my opinion, these trucks have more capability than 99% of owners will ever use, and no one will go wrong by choosing one over the other two, it usually boils down to small things like looks, blind loyalty and price, not capabilities, that influence buyers. I do understand the fierce marketing competition though, as these trucks are such huge cash cows for the big 3